Écologie évolutive des grands mammifères dans un environnement variable - Evolutionary ecology of large mammals in a changing environment

个体的异质性与资源丰度和其他生态变量相互作用，影响种群增长和生殖策略的演变。通过对标记的野生哺乳动物的长期监测，我的研究量化了个体在表型、基因、繁殖成功和存活方面的差异，确定了这种差异的自然和人为来源，并探索了其对个体适应性、种群动态和进化生态学的影响。对被标记个体的长期监测可以记录年龄、身体状况、体型、基因和其他变量的异质性如何导致对选择压力的不同反应，并影响种群动态。在接下来的5年里，我将讨论生活史进化、遗传和表型变异在影响种群动态中的相互作用、对已收获哺乳动物的人为选择，以及环境和种群结构在驱动种群动态中的相对作用。我的项目正在进入一个新的令人兴奋的阶段：除了大角羊之外，我现在还有关于袋鼠和Chamois的成熟的研究项目，以及分析收获的有蹄类动物的长期数据的新合作。这些新的倡议将回答将进化生态学和种群动态与野生动物管理联系起来的重要问题。我和我的学生将监测有标记的大角羊、阿尔卑斯山斑羚和东部灰袋鼠的生存、繁殖和体型。通过对数以千计的收获个体(斯通羊和大角羊，chamois)的年龄和角测量的额外长期数据，我提出了4个相互关联的研究轴，以探索个体变异性的进化、个体发育和环境起源，以及它对种群和进化生态学的影响。轴1：生活史进化。博士D.1探讨了袋鼠出生日期变化的原因和后果。博士D.2将研究袋鼠年龄和性别特定生长中个体变异性的决定因素和健康后果，包括潜在的补偿性生长。博士3将研究母体对大角兽的影响。M.Sc.1将分析超过200只标记的Chamois的8年数据，将空间行为和社会互动的信息与遗传分析相结合，以确定亲属关系在形成明显稳定的社会群体中的作用。轴2：遗传学和种群动态。M.Sc2将建立在对种群遗传结构的实验性操纵和日益深入的系谱的基础上，以量化遗传变异性对大角绵羊种群动态的影响。轴3：人为选择。博士4将分析多个长期数据集(20-40年)，将角/鹿角大小的时间变化划分为可归因于环境和人为因素的变化。轴心4：人口动态。博士5将结合关于密度、身体大小和年龄性别结构的数据，以及关于饲料可获得性和天气条件的数据，以充分了解袋鼠种群动态的随机和依赖于密度的组成部分。M.Sc.3将结合放置在母亲和新生小鹿身上的近距离项圈的新观察结果，与40年来关于迁徙驯鹿秋季分类计数的数据库相结合，以探索魁北克北部和拉布拉多两个驯鹿群小鹿存活率差异的原因。M.SC.4正在研究天气对大角羊种群动态的影响。M.SC.5将比较种群密度和天气对高山沙鼠种群动态的相对影响。我的研究发生在研究区域，在那里，捕捉、标记、测量和监控大量动物的后勤工作已经建立得很好，并得到了政府机构的便利。

Individual heterogeneity interacts with resource abundance and other ecological variables to affect population growth and the evolution of reproductive strategies. Through long-term monitoring of marked wild mammals, my research quantifies individual variation in phenotype, genotype, reproductive success and survival, identifies natural and artificial sources of that variation and explores its effects on individual fitness, population dynamics and evolutionary ecology. Long-term monitoring of marked individuals can document how heterogeneity in age, body condition, size, genotype and other variables leads to different responses to selective pressures and influences population dynamics. Over the next 5 years I will address questions on life-history evolution, the interplay of genetic and phenotypic variability in affecting population dynamics, anthropogenic selection on harvested mammals, and the relative roles of environment and population structure in driving population dynamics. My program is entering a new exciting phase: in addition to bighorn sheep, I now have well-established research programs on kangaroos and chamois, and new collaborations to analyze long-term data on harvested ungulates. These new initiatives will answer important questions linking evolutionary ecology and population dynamics with wildlife management. My students and I will monitor survival, reproduction and size of marked bighorn sheep, Alpine chamois and eastern grey kangaroos. With additional long-term data on age and horn measurements of thousands of harvested individuals (Stone’s and bighorn sheep, chamois), I propose 4 interconnected research axes to explore the evolutionary, ontogenetic and environmental origins of individual variability, and its consequences for population and evolutionary ecology. Axis 1: Life-history evolution. Ph.D.1 explores the causes and consequences of variability in birthdate in kangaroos. Ph.D.2 will examine the determinants and fitness consequences of individual variability in age- and sex-specific growth, including potential compensatory growth, in kangaroos. Ph.D.3 will study maternal effects in bighorn. M.Sc.1 will analyze 8 years of data on over 200 marked chamois, combining information on spatial behavior and social interactions with a genetic analysis to determine the role of kinship in forming apparently stable social groups. Axis 2: Genetics and population dynamics. M.Sc.2 will build upon an experimental manipulation of population genetic structure and an increasingly deep pedigree to quantify the effects of genetic variability on population dynamics of bighorn sheep. Axis 3: Anthropogenic selection. Ph.D.4 will analyze multiple long-term data sets (20-40 years) to partition temporal changes in horn/antler size into those attributable to environmental and to anthropogenic factors. Axis 4: Population dynamics. Ph.D.5 will combine data on density, body size and age-sex structure with data on forage availability and weather conditions to fully understand the stochastic and density-dependent components of population dynamics in kangaroos. M.Sc.3 will combine new observations from proximity collars placed on mothers and newborn calves with a 40-year database on classified autumn counts of migrating caribou to explore the causes of variability in calf survival in two herds in northern Québec and Labrador. M.Sc.4 is examining the effects of weather on population dynamics of bighorn sheep. M.Sc.5 will compare the relative effects of population density and weather in population dynamics of Alpine chamois. My research takes place in study areas where the logistics of capturing, marking, measuring and monitoring large numbers of animals are well established and facilitated by government agencies.